Month: April 2016

I’m excited to share the happy news that as of a few days ago, Tyba.com became part of the Graduateland Network.

Yes, we bought the Madrid-based job platform, which includes both Tyba.com and the job boards on a couple of handful of tech blogs, including Tech.eu andStartup Explore. You know, like we have partnered up with universities to get a broader reach, Tyba found other partners that fit their niche.

This acquisition makes a lot of sense for Graduateland. And why is this? Because it sets the scene to further improve the service we provide for you, awesome users and awesome recruiting companies – and here’s how:

More jobs from an attractive employer segment

Graduateland and Tyba launched their respective services roughly around the same time about 5 years ago.

Where we have built our product from the perspective of the users – students and graduates – Tyba’s point of departure stems from the other side of the job interview table. The focus of the Tyba network has been startups and tech companies, and over the course of the last years many thousand of said companies have recruited and presented their companies via their platforms.

Startups and tech companies are part of an attractive segment of employers – I am of course strongly biased, since I see Graduateland as part of both one and the other.

Anybody who has been involved in the startup community knows that these young companies are also a nurturing ground for future talent, as they often use internships as a way to groom candidates for subsequent junior and entry level positions.

Additionally, startups and tech companies are very likely to have an international mindset, most likely also have English as a main language at the office, making them truly relevant for all you international users, who are looking to kickstart your careers in an international and fast-paced environment.

I’m positive that all these extra job positions and employers will ensure that match-making in the Graduateland universe will boom! Imagine a dating app that grows its user base: more ladies and more gentlemen equal more kissing on park benches.

More content equals efficient employer branding

A highly relevant value the acquisition of Tyba brings into the Graduateland Network is the abundance of super quality content that their team has spent creating over the better part of 5 years. Creating beautiful employer profiles has been part of the Tyba strategy, and they have been travelling across the European continent to interview, film, and photograph founders, startup staff, and office spaces in order to provide users with a glimpse into the world of their prospective employers.

Leveraging this high-quality content on the Graduateland portals supports our current strategy of increasing our focus on employer branding. I have outlined our thoughts on this in a separate blog post.

Employer branding is the initial step of efficient recruitment, and showcasing their work environment enables companies to distinguish themselves, attract unique talent, while at the same time making career exploration easier for job seekers. If this is not in tune with what we at Graduateland want to work on, then I don’t know what is.

Let’s tune back to our dating analogy. Better content about employers is like being able to dig into a multitude of photos, gain insights into hobbies and cooking skills, so narrowing down your target isn’t just superficial left and right swiping.

Keep your friends close

Tyba has been on our radar for several years. As an ambitious entrepreneur you, of course, know your competition, and in Tyba’s case I’ve known them personally for a few years. Since they have received VC funding from a Danish VC fund they have visited Copenhagen several times, and often that has resulted in a coffee and a quick touch-base about what both our companies were up to, and if anybody pivoted since our last coffee.

Naturally a few cards were held close to the chest but the dialogues were always interesting, and as a company founder you truly enjoy discussing trends and frustrations with someone who also spends 18 hours a day navigating the same industry.

Alongside the periodic meetups we have always kept an eye on the Tyba site. We have always considered them way ahead of us with their sleek design and mighty content team that travelled the continent and met with all the cool startups. To some extend they were like the mechanical rabbit on the dog track that gets you to push on a little bit harder.

Finally, the Tyba guys have been the ones that have claimed the fame in the international tech press where Graduateland has mostly been like the annoying little brother that tags along when the big boys want to go out to play. So whenever Tyba has raised venture funding “the much smaller Graduateland” got mentioned, but never really as a serious threat. Well, we got our TechCrunch backlinks, so we were happy.

The original Tyba founders will continue with another recruitment venture, source{d}, which they launched roughly a year ago. Godspeed, guys, I’m sure you have come across a fruitful business idea.

Rounding off, I hope that you’ll get as much (or more) out of this new constellation as I think you will, whether you’re a job-seeker or a recruiter. At the end of the day, we’re doing it all for you guys.